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Cisco ME 3400 Ethernet Access Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 8 Configuring IEEE 802.1x Port-Based Authentication
Configuring IEEE 802.1x Authentication
You also need to configure some settings on the RADIUS server. These settings include the IP address
of the switch and the key string to be shared by both the server and the switch. For more information,
see the RADIUS server documentation.
Configuring Periodic Re-Authentication
You can enable periodic IEEE 802.1x client re-authentication and specify how often it occurs. If you do
not specify a time period before enabling re-authentication, the number of seconds between
re-authentication attempts is 3600.
Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to enable periodic re-authentication of the client
and to configure the number of seconds between re-authentication attempts. This procedure is optional.
To disable periodic re-authentication, use the no dot1x reauthentication interface configuration
command. To return to the default number of seconds between re-authentication attempts, use the no
dot1x timeout reauth-period interface configuration command.
This example shows how to enable periodic re-authentication and set the number of seconds between
re-authentication attempts to 4000:
Switch(config-if)# dot1x reauthentication
Switch(config-if)# dot1x timeout reauth-period 4000
Manually Re-Authenticating a Client Connected to a Port
You can manually re-authenticate the client connected to a specific port at any time by entering the dot1x
re-authenticate interface interface-id privileged EXEC command. This step is optional. If you want to
enable or disable periodic re-authentication, see the “Configuring Periodic Re-Authentication” section
on page 8-16.
This example shows how to manually re-authenticate the client connected to a port:
Switch# dot1x re-authenticate interface gigabitethernet0/1
Command Purpose
Step 1 configure terminal Enter global configuration mode.
Step 2 interface interface-id Specify the port to be configured, and enter interface configuration mode.
Step 3 dot1x reauthentication Enable periodic re-authentication of the client, which is disabled by
default.
Step 4 dot1x timeout reauth-period seconds Set the number of seconds between re-authentication attempts.
The range is 1 to 65535; the default is 3600 seconds.
This command affects the behavior of the switch only if periodic
re-authentication is enabled.
Step 5 end Return to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 6 show dot1x interface interface-id Verify your entries.
Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Save your entries in the configuration file.